Written Answers Tuesday 9 September 2008

Scottish Executive

Alcohol

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal advice it has received regarding minimum pricing per unit of alcohol and what analysis it has undertaken to ensure that minimum price setting does not breach domestic or EU competition law.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has received legal advice as part of the normal development of policy options. We will not be divulging that advice.

Alcohol

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken into the relationship between alcohol pricing and problem drinking.

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken into the impact of minimum pricing of alcohol on responsible drinkers on low incomes.

Kenny MacAskill: We have researched a range of information to help frame our proposals for minimum pricing. Annex J to "Changing Scotland’s relationship with alcohol: a discussion paper on our strategic approach" lists evidence, research and other publications relevant to the government’s proposals.

Alcohol Misuse

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people under the age of 18 in the Strathclyde Police area have had alcohol confiscated in the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by local authority area.

Kenny MacAskill: The available information is given in the following table, which shows all offences recorded under section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997.

  The police have powers under section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997 to confiscate alcohol from under 18s in a public place and dispose of it. Under this section, the police also have powers to confiscate alcohol from persons aged 18 or over, in a public place and dispose of it if that person has supplied, or intends to supply, alcohol to under 18s. If the alcohol is surrendered to the police, it is not an offence and so is not included in the recorded crime statistics. It is, however, an offence to fail to comply, for example by failing to surrender the alcohol or by failing to give his name and address if requested. The number of these criminal offences are shown in the following table. It should be noted that this cannot be assumed to be a true representation of the number of incidents where alcohol was confiscated.

  Number of Offences Recorded by Strathclyde Police under Section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997, by Local Authority Area, for 2004-05 to 2006-07.

  

 Local Authority Area
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Argyll and Bute
 1
 0
 0


 City of Glasgow
 3
 0
 1


 East Ayrshire
 1
 0
 0


 East Dunbartonshire
 0
 0
 0


 East Renfrewshire
 0
 0
 0


 Inverclyde
 0
 1
 0


 North Ayrshire
 0
 0
 0


 North Lanarkshire
 1
 1
 0


 Renfrewshire
 0
 0
 0


 South Ayrshire
 0
 0
 0


 South Lanarkshire
 1
 2
 1


 West Dunbartonshire
 0
 0
 0


 Strathclyde
 7
 4
 2

Antisocial Behaviour

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many antisocial behaviour orders have been applied for by local authorities and subsequently granted in each year since their introduction, broken down by local authority.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested, up to March 2006, can be found in the report Use of Antisocial Behaviour Orders in Scotland, laid before Parliament on 20 September 2007 (Bib. number 43671).

  Statistics on the number of antisocial behaviour orders granted between April 2006 and March 2008, by local authority area, can be found on our website at www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com (the information on the number applied for during this period is not held centrally).

Antisocial Behaviour

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued on conviction by each sheriff court since the introduction of this option.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested, up to end of March 2008, is available on our website at www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com .

Antisocial Behaviour

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many closure orders have been (a) applied for and (b) granted in each year since their introduction, broken down by local authority area.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested at (a) is not held centrally, while that requested at (b) is available, up to end of March 2008, on our website at www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com .

Antisocial Behaviour

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dispersal orders have been (a) applied for and (b) granted in each year since their introduction, broken down by local authority area.

Fergus Ewing: The number of dispersal zones designated by senior police officers, up to end of March 2008, is available, by police force area, on our website at: www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com .

  Police forces do not apply to the courts for dispersal orders; these measures are authorised by a police officer of Superintendent rank or above.

Antisocial Behaviour

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many interim antisocial behaviour orders have been applied for by local authorities and subsequently granted in each year since their introduction, broken down by local authority area.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested is available, for 2005-06 only, in annex 1 of the report Use of Antisocial Behaviour Orders in Scotland , which was laid in the Parliament on 20 September 2007 (Bib. number 43671).

Apprenticeships

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has carried out, or intends to carry out, an impact assessment of the effect on the social care sector of the redistribution of Skills Development Scotland funding for adult apprenticeships.

Fiona Hyslop: An assessment of the impact on training providers for all sectors engaged with the modern apprenticeship programme across Scotland was undertaken as part of the decision to make the changes to our National Training Programmes in March.

Birds

Alasdair Allan (Western Isles) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has reached any conclusion about what a sustainable number of graylag geese in Uist would be.

Richard Lochhead: Scottish Natural Heritage have commissioned two research studies:

  An assessment of the status of the native greylag goose population and an analysis of future population trends based on simple modelling, and

  The population size of native breeding greylag geese in Scotland.

  The outputs of the modelling will predict future population trends of native greylag geese within a location over a 25 year period. The potential impact of various management scenarios will also be assessed. The final report for this research is due at the end of this year.

  Work to assess the population of native greylag geese is underway and an interim report is due in autumn 2008. Further survey work will be carried out during 2009 and a final report including a population estimate is due at the end of 2009.

Birds

Alasdair Allan (Western Isles) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an update on what measures it is taking to address the depredation of crofting land by greylag geese in Uist.

Richard Lochhead: Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) provides support and assistance to crofters and farmers in the Uists to manage the impact of greylag geese on their land and livelihoods. The Uist Greylag Goose Management Scheme is managed by the Uist Local Goose Management Group which includes local stakeholder representatives.

  The scheme has been approved for the next three year period with a budget of £63,189 per annum. This budget includes funding to contract lethal scarers to protect key machair crops from the geese and to respond to any scaring requests or complaints. In addition, this funding also provides free scaring devices for crofters and farmers, available from the local SNH Area Office and support from SNH and Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate staff.

Central Heating Programme

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many central heating systems it expects to install in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum is currently considering the long term future of the programme and is expected to report back in early autumn. Once the forum has provided its recommendations the necessary decisions on the future of the programme will be taken.

Central Heating Programme

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the central heating programme baseline budget is for 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Stewart Maxwell: The fuel poverty budget for 2008-09 and 2009-10 was set at £45.9 million as part of the Strategic Spending Review (2007) announced on 14 November 2007.

Child Care

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made from its initial discussions with Her Majesty’s Government about its proposals that the child care element of working tax credit and child care vouchers should be merged as reported in its news release of 16 July 2008.

Adam Ingram: Scottish Government officials met with HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officials in August 2008 to discuss their current consultation on the modernisation of the tax credits system. As part of the consultation process, officials have stressed the Scottish Government’s desire that the child care element of the working tax credit and child care vouchers should be merged to create a straightforward, progressive and more accessible system.

  The Scottish Government will continue to liaise with HMRC regarding the simplification of the tax credits system to make the process easier for parents and improve uptake for those families in need of support.

Child Poverty

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will continue prioritising the policy of ending child poverty by 2020, including seeking from Her Majesty’s Government an increase in child benefit and increasing the provision of high quality and affordable childcare.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government remains committed to doing what it can within the available powers to end child poverty by 2020. The Scottish Government recognises that any effective approach to child poverty must also address income inequality in Scotland, which is why the Government Economic Strategy contains the solidarity target, which sets out our ambition to increase the proportion of income earned by the poorest 30% of the population by 2017. The Scottish Government will publish with COSLA our framework to tackle poverty, inequality and deprivation in Scotland in November 2008. That framework will consider benefits issues, and the support for employment that can be offered by affordable and accessible child care. The Scottish Government’s position that it could more effectively tackle poverty in Scotland with additional powers over the tax and benefits system was supported by a majority of those who expressed a view on this in our consultation exercise.

Children with Disabilities

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £34 million allocated to it by HM Treasury for disabled children and their families has been spent on disabled children and their families.

Adam Ingram: Consequentials due to Scotland as a result of HM Treasury’s announcement of £340 million to support families with disabled children were included within the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 Settlement and were not hypothecated. The allocation of appropriate levels of support for disabled children, young people and their families is a matter for local authorities.

Community Wardens

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can provide short-term emergency funding for community warden services in circumstances where local authorities are unable to continue funding but the need for such a service is well recognised and documented.

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether emergency grant aid exists for community warden services in circumstances where local authorities are unable to continue funding but the need for such a service is well recognised and documented.

Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-7746 on 19 December 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Courts

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many stipendiary magistrates are employed at Glasgow District Court.

Kenny MacAskill: Glasgow District Court employs four full-time and three relief stipendiary magistrates.

Courts

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are at Glasgow District Court for stipendiary magistrates.

Kenny MacAskill: Two new stipendiary magistrates commenced their full-time appointments on Monday 1 September 2008. There are no vacancies at Glasgow District Court.

Drug Misuse

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug-related deaths there were in (a) Edinburgh and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested is given in table C1 of "Drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2007" published by the General Register Office for Scotland in 2008, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 46403).

First Minister

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what official trips the First Minister took by ministerial car from 1 to 24 July 2008, showing the origin, destination and purpose of the journey in each case.

John Swinney: The First Minister made the following journeys by Government car between 1 July and 24 July:

  

 Date
 Time
 Pick Up
 Destination
 Purpose


 1 July 2008
 11:30
 Bute House
 Holyrood Palace
 Audience with Her Majesty


 1 July 2008
 12:50
 Holyrood Palace
 Bute House
 Returning to official residence


 1 July 2008
 15:05
 Bute House
 Holyrood Palace
 Queen’s Garden Party


 1 July 2008
 18:00
 Holyrood Palace
 Bute House
 Supper with Garden Party Guests


 2 July 2008
 10:15
 Bute House
 St Giles Cathedral
 Order of the Thistle Service


 2 July 2008
 12:00
 St Giles Cathedral
 Edinburgh Airport
 Flight to London


 3 July 2008
 11:20
 Edinburgh Airport
 Bute House
 Meetings in Bute house


 3 July 2008
 16:30
 Bute House
 Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen
 Aberdeen Cyrenians 40th Anniversary Dinner


 3 July 2008
 22:30
 Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen 
 Personal Address
 Returning Home


 6 July 2008
 12:15
 Personal Address
 Kirk of St Nicholas, Aberdeen
 Service to Commemorate Piper Alpha Tragedy


 6 July 2008
 17:00
 Kirk of St Nicholas, Aberdeen
 Personal Address
 Returning Home


 10 July 2008
 14:00
 Personal Address
 Bute House
 Meetings in Bute House


 10 July 2008
 19:00
 Bute House
 Edinburgh Castle
 Reception for Commonwealth Law Ministers


 10 July 2008
 20:00
 Edinburgh Castle
 Prestonfield House
 Dinner for Commonwealth Law Ministers


 10 July 2008
 23:30
 Prestonfield House
 Bute House
 Returning to official residence


 12 July 2008
 18:00
 Bute House
 Personal Address
 Returning Home


 15 July 2008
 14:00
 Personal Address
 Bute House
 Meetings in Bute House


 18 July 2008
 10:00
 Bute House
 Tullis Russell, Markinch
 Tullis Russell Announcement


 18 July 2008
 12:00
 Tullis Russell, Markinch
 Meridian Court, Glasgow
 Meeting with Energy and Transport officials


 18 July 2008
 14:30
 Meridian Court, Glasgow
 2 Baillieston Road, Glasgow
 Travelling from Official Meeting 


 19 July 2008
 18:00
 Bute House
 Personal Address
 Returning Home


 21 July 2008
 07:00
 Personal Address
 SECC, Glasgow
 World Renewable Energy Conference 


 21 July 2008
 12:00
 SECC, Glasgow
 57 Queen Street, Glasgow
 Meeting with The Sunday Times


 21 July 2008
 15:00
 57 Queen Street, Glasgow
 2 Baillieston Road, Glasgow
 Travelling from Official Meeting

Food Safety

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, following the findings of Dr Scott Willoughby of the Cardiovascular Research Centre at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, it is satisfied that the energy soft drink, Red Bull, is safe for public consumption.

Nicola Sturgeon: Currently there is a lack of evidence to confirm the reported adverse effects associated with energy drinks or to support their safety. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) are currently reviewing the safety of some of the constituents of so called "energy drinks" and are due to report on their findings shortly. The Food Standards Agency regularly review the literature on energy drinks as this is a high profile area and following the EFSA conclusions may seek the opinion of the Committee on Toxicity (COT) although no decisions have been made on this at this time.

Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the findings of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland’s Health Technology Assessment Report 11, The clinical effectiveness of thromboelastography/thromboelastometry , when the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service will make available to users the costs of commonly used blood products.

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the findings of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland’s Health Technology Assessment Report 11, The clinical effectiveness of thromboelastography/thromboelastometry , whether it will introduce a national procurement contract for analysers and consumables for thromboelastography/thromboelastometry and, if so, when.

Nicola Sturgeon: The findings of this Health Technology Assessment Report will be considered in the Scottish Health Technologies Group in due course.

Health

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive for (a) total amount spent, (b) targeted outcomes at point of launch and (c) actual outcome for each health-related publicity campaign launched since May 2007.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the Scottish Government website which shows the marketing spend for all health campaigns in the financial year 2007-08:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Directorates/Services-Groups/Corporate-Services/17963/advertising-marketing/spend/2007-08.

  The following table details the current expenditure from April 2008 to date for scheduled 2008-09 health campaigns.

  

 Campaign
 Spend


 *Ageism (Period July to September 2008)
£0.00


 Alcohol
£13,374.95


 Domestic Abuse
£25,840.36


 Flu
£112,264.87


 *Hand Hygiene (Campaign Runs from October/November to March 2009)
£0.00


 Healthy Living
£249,732.01


 *Hepatitis C (Campaign Runs from October to March 2009)
£0.00


 *National Care Standards (Period of Campaign Still to be confirmed)
£0.00


 Organ Donation
£118,719.03


 Prescription Charges
£8,224.65



  Note: *No billing received to date or campaign activity not yet commenced.

  The following list states the target outcomes and the actual outcomes for each health-related advertising campaign launched since May 2007.

  Ageism:

  Targeted Outcomes:

  To raise awareness across an all adult population of Scotland (aged 15+ years) about the issue of ageism, and to help start tackling ageist attitudes in society. The campaign highlights the impact that negative attitudes about age have, and encourages people to "see the person" and not the age.

  Actual Outcome:

  The campaign is currently running. Post evaluation research is not yet available.

  Alcohol:

  Targeted Outcomes:

  The National Debate on Alcohol seeks to stimulate public debate about the impact of alcohol on Scotland, both at a personal and societal level. Internet and radio advertising has been used to stimulate awareness and drive traffic to the campaign website.

  Actual Outcomes:

  Four weeks of online tactical activity (week beginning 11 August 2008) was targeted at parents, supported by two weeks of radio (week beginning 11 August 2008). This not only helped raise awareness of the less obvious impacts of alcohol on children but also resulted in an average increase of 500% in traffic levels to the debate site, with a corresponding increase in public comment.

  Career Opportunities within the NHS:

  Note: A £5,000 spend appears in financial year 2007-08 which relates to activity from the previous financial year.

  Domestic Abuse:

  Targeted Outcomes:

  Maintain a high level of public awareness of domestic abuse and raise awareness of the support available;

  Specifically, the 2007-08 campaign’s purpose was to underline the effects that domestic abuse has on children in the families where it occurs;

  Our primary target audience was women experiencing domestic abuse, as they are usually best placed to help themselves and their children;

  Our secondary target audience was the wider Scottish public.

  Actual Outcome:

  Proportion of people spontaneously aware of advertising/publicity about domestic abuse has been consistently high at more than seven in ten over the last four waves and was at 72% at wave 11 (70% at wave 10);

  The level of TV reach, recognition of both "Doll’s House" and "Teddy" creative executions, was 83% - much higher than levels reached over last four waves. 58% of those who had seen the adverts thought that the advert sought to communicate the effects on children/family which was the main campaign message at wave 11;

  Combining the reach figures for TV and radio gives a total campaign reach for the latest phase of 85%, compared to 79% at wave 10.

  Flu:

  Targeted Outcomes:

  The overall campaign aims to encourage the two target groups, over 65s, and those aged under 65 and in an "at risk" group, to get their free flu jab each winter;

  The main focus of the 2007-08 publicity campaign was the under 65 at risk audience;

  The Chief Medical Officer set public health targets of 70% uptake in the over 65s target group and, for the "at risk" group, 60%.

  Actual Outcome:

  67% of the "at risk group" were aware of advertising or publicity on the subject of flu (65% in 2006);

  When prompted with the posters for the "at risk" audience, 61% claimed to be aware of at least one of them, compared to recall in 2006 of 53%;

  81% of people agreed with the statement that the advertising "helped me understand how serious getting the flu can be" and 82% of people agreed that the advertising "helped me to realise that the flu jab is not just for old people". Both of these statements indicate that the campaign was working well in communicating these key campaign messages;

  However, there was a fall in agreement that the advertising "is relevant to me", 82% in 2006 to 71% in 2007. This provides an area for development in 2008/09. 2007/08 vaccine uptake figures are as follows:

  65 and Over: 70%

  65 and Under at Risk: 40%

  It should be noted that the advertising contributes to the effectiveness of the vaccination programme but that the programme has other determining factors (GP payments / willingness for public to get vaccine / availability of vaccine / appointment slots etc.).

  Hand Hygiene:

  Targeted Outcomes:

  The following activities were funded:

  Payment of media space for sonic panels to be used in NHS wards;

  Production of sponsored local press editorial;

  Re-branding logo on behalf of Health Protection Scotland – updating "Scottish Executive" to "Scottish Government".

  Actual Outcome:

  The hand hygiene campaign is run by Health Protection Scotland. All campaign results are available on its website.

  Healthy Living (Take Life On):

  Targeted Outcomes:

  Diet: The objective is to raise awareness amongst our target audiences of the everyday, achievable changes to diet which can provide significant and specific health benefits by helping to reduce the risk of cancers, heart disease and diabetes.

  Physical Activity: The objective is to provide motivating guidelines for increased and effective physical activity amongst key adult target audiences.

  Specifically it will raise awareness of the specific health benefits of five x 30 minutes of brisk walking five days per week and supply examples of how to achieve this as part of everyday life.

  Actual Outcome:

  The campaign is currently running. Post evaluation research is not yet available.

  Hepatitis C:

  Targeted Outcomes:

  To encourage health and medical professionals who come into contact with carriers/sufferers of Hepatitis C to find out more about the disease by visiting the website at www.hepcscotland.co.uk

  Actual Outcome:

  The total media spend for this campaign is less than the £100,000 threshold for post-campaign evaluation.

  National Care Standards:

  Targeted Outcomes:

  The National Care Standards are used across the care sector in Scotland to set standards for the quality of care that the public has a right to expect, in both residential and day care settings. TV advertising has been used to raise awareness of the National Care Standards and improve people’s knowledge of how the standards can help them.

  Actual Outcomes:

  The campaign is currently running. Post evaluation research is not yet available.

  Organ Donation:

  Targeted Outcomes:

  To increase the number of Scots on the Organ Donor register by running a campaign to drive the 91% in favour of organ donation to sign up.

  91% in favour of organ donation

  23% on the organ donor register

  40% relative refusal rate

  700+ people waiting for a life saving transplant in Scotland.

  Actual Outcome:

  During the campaign period, Scottish registrations jumped by 299% with 85,899 people signing up between February and May 2008. We cannot attribute the entire uplift to our campaign as UK Transplant ran some national activity during the period. However, there was an uplift of 72% in England for the same period. If we apply the 72% uplift as a base, our campaign generated approximately 48,900 registrations which equates to a 277% increase in Scotland.

  Prescription Charges:

  Targeted outcomes:

  The key marketing objective was to raise awareness that prescription charges were being reduced from £6.85 to £5.00. A secondary objective was to let people know about prescription pre-payment certificates and that the cost had reduced by 51%.

  Actual outcomes:

  The results of the omnibus tracking survey completed at the end of the campaign indicated high awareness levels for the campaign and its key messages. Over half (51%) of the total sample recalled at least one strand of prescription charges advertising. 88% of those in the sample who had heard or seen any of the campaign understood the main message of the advertising to be ‘NHS prescription charges are coming down’. This rose to 95% when prompted with advertising messages.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what benefits have been achieved by the introduction of Community Health Partnerships in terms of costs and patient care.

Shona Robison: Community Health Partnerships were established to enable the delivery of better services for local people and to help to improve the health of local communities. Patient benefits have been delivered by Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) including better management of long-term conditions; more local diagnosis and treatment; improved access to primary care services and improvements in health through anticipatory care programmes targeted at disadvantaged groups.

  These benefits are measured through NHS board HEAT targets and other strategic priorities such as the Mental Health Delivery Plan and community care outcomes.

  In relation to costs, the 40 CHPs replaced 81 Local Health Care Cooperatives and were established from the budgets previously used to support LHCCs and NHS trusts which were dissolved. There was no additional funding provided for the establishment or running costs of CHPs.

  We will be commissioning a study of CHPs at the end of the year to consider their overall progress in delivering key areas of responsibility and to identify the factors that have facilitated their progress with a view to sharing the learning across all CHPs.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the independent review team on Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital issued adverts to the local press inviting families affected to make written submissions.

Nicola Sturgeon: The independent review team issued an advert for a "call for evidence" to the local press on 8 July 2008.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers three days to be sufficient time for individuals to respond to a consultation.

Nicola Sturgeon: The independent review team received a high number of written requests and went on to interview 22 patients and relatives who were affected by the cases of Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital. The independent review team were extremely pleased with this high response.

Housing

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the figure provided for the average Housing Association Grant per unit in 2007-08 of £80,410 in the answer to question S3W-13734 by Stewart Maxwell on 19 June 2008, what its estimate is for the average Housing Association Grant per unit for (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10.

Stewart Maxwell: We do not estimate the average Housing Association Grant (HAG) per Unit for these two years as this will be dependent on the size and type of units approved during the current year and will be based on local variations in costs.

Housing

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many approvals for new affordable houses under the Affordable Housing Investment Programme were announced by the previous administration in 2007 for the year 2007-08; how many houses were constructed under this programme in 2007-08, and how many houses it expects to be constructed under this programme in 2008-09.

Stewart Maxwell: The number of approvals of new and refurbished affordable houses announced by the previous administration in 2007 for the year 2007-08 was 8,000 and 5,482 completions were achieved. During 2008-09 it is expected that 6,070 units will be approved and 7,000 units will be completed.

Housing

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-14279 by Stewart Maxwell on 8 July 2008, what level of Housing Association Grant per unit is considered sustainable if the Scottish Government is to meet the challenge of homelessness and its aspiration to increase the supply of new affordable homes.

Stewart Maxwell: Housing Association Grant requirements vary depending on a range of circumstances including location, house size, client group and rent levels. In general terms, reducing the amount of public subsidy per unit will enable more houses to be built, and quicker and more sustainable progress made towards increasing supply and meeting the challenge of homelessness. We will consult later this year on new methods of allocating subsidies for affordable housing in the future.

Housing

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13282 by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 June 2008, whether evidence that registered social landlords (RSL) apply tenancy conditions strictly and take action where necessary to stop antisocial behaviour is examined as part of the inspection of performance of RSLs and what weight is given to this relative to other factors in evaluating their overall performance.

Nicola Sturgeon: I have asked Karen Watt, Chief Executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The Scottish Housing Regulator assesses performance on the management of antisocial behaviour, including use of tenancy conditions and legal action, in its inspection of registered social landlords (RSLs). Together with a number of other important tenant and service use outcomes, this forms a major part of the regulator’s assessment of RSLs’ overall performance as set out in the inspection grade it awards to each inspected landlord.

Housing

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will require new homes funded by Housing Association Grant to meet higher build and design standards, as referred to in the answer to question S3W-13390 by Stewart Maxwell on 4 June 2008, now that it has indicated that previous levels of grant are unsustainable.

Stewart Maxwell: Yes. Through our changes to Housing Association Grant, recipients of Housing Association Grant are asked to meet twin aims of quality and long term value for money. These are key themes within our reform agenda.

Housing

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that the £60 million for affordable housing announced by the First Minister on 19 August 2008 is to be spread over 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that the £60 million for affordable housing announced by the First Minister on 19 August 2008 is to be taken from the housing budget for 2010-11.

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that no agreement was reached by the Scottish Government with COSLA on the proposed £40 million contribution to affordable housing prior to the First Minister’s announcement on 19 August 2008.

Stewart Maxwell: As part of the First Minister’s announcement on 19 August, the Scottish Government published "Responding to the Changing Economic Climate: Further Action on Housing". This set out the targeted measures that the Scottish Government is putting in place to help alleviate some of the most serious aspects of the credit crunch on the supply of affordable homes, on first time buyers and existing homeowners, and on the capacity of the house building industry. It included information about the Scottish Government’s plans to bring forward up to £100 million of affordable housing investment and explained that this would be spent in the financial years 2008-09 and 2009-10, rather than in 2010-11 as planned originally. It also explained that some £60 million of this investment would be committed from government programmes and that the government would discuss with COSLA the temporary contribution of a further £40 million from local government programmes.

Justice

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were sentenced for the offence of selling a knife to a person under 18 years of age in each of the last five years, broken down by sherrifdom.

Fergus Ewing: In the last five years for which information is available (2002-03 to 2006-07), there have been four people sentenced for selling a knife to a person under 18 years of age, where the offence was recorded under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, section 141.

  By individual year, this consisted of:

  One in 2002-03 in the North Strathclyde sheriffdom;

  Two in 2003-04, one of which was in the North Strathclyde sheriffdom, with the other in the Tayside, Central and Fife sheriffdom;

  One in 2005-06 in the South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway sheriffdom.

Justice

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what sentence was imposed in each case for the offence of selling a knife to a person under 18 years of age in each of the last five years and, where fines were imposed, what the (a) smallest, (b) largest and (c) average fine imposed was in each year.

Fergus Ewing: In the last five years for which information is available (2002-03 to 2006-07), there have been four people sentenced for selling a knife to a person under 18 years of age, where the offence was recorded under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, section 141.

  By individual year, this consisted of:

  One in 2002-03 where a fine of £500 was imposed;

  Two in 2003-04, where fines of £200 and £400 were imposed;

  One in 2005-06 where the person was admonished.

Justice

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it monitors the level of fine repayment in Glasgow District Court.

Kenny MacAskill: This is a matter for Glasgow District Court.

Kinship Care

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that, in line with the getting it right for every child in kinship and foster care strategy, kinship care is the first option considered for every child who can no longer live with its parent(s).

Adam Ingram: One of the guiding principles of getting it right for every child in foster and kinship care is: "unless there are clear reasons why placement within the family would not be in the child’s interests, care within the wider family and community circle will be the first option for the child."

  The steps being taken to achieve this include:

  Guidance on the assessment and approval process for kinship carers of looked after children will be published shortly. This will cover the provision of support to kinship carers to ensure they are enabled to take on care of a child wherever this best meets the child’s needs;

  Revised looked after children regulations will be issued for consultation by the end of 2008, which will make clear the role of the family in decision-making about the child and also the role of and responsibilities of approved kinship carers of looked after children, and

  Training, information and guidance to support the implementation of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 has been commissioned. This will include the role of kinship carers in providing a permanent home for the children in their family.

Kinship Care

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is working with COSLA to increase the practical support available to kinship carers beyond its announced kinship care payment.

Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government and COSLA recognise more support is necessary for many kinship carers, including carers of children who are not looked after, and that includes practical and emotional support as well as financial assistance. Our work includes:

  Commissioning jointly the national reference group, which is taking forward implementation of getting it right for every child in kinship and foster care, to produce a long-term vision for kinship care in Scotland, and will deliver guidance covering holistic support of kinship carers;

  Providing a central government grant to Citizens Advice Scotland to deliver a specialist advice and information service to all kinship carers, which will be launched in September 2008. COSLA is a member of its national advisory group;

  Working in partnership on the development of an early years framework to support the building of parenting, family and community capacity.

Licensing

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it appropriate for local authorities to operate their liquor licensing system at a profit.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government’s position has always been that we would expect a licensing board that had a surplus from fee income in one year to seek to provide a reduction in fees in the following years. I have made this clear on a number of occasions.

Lifelong Learning

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria must be met for independent training providers to access Skills Development Scotland funding.

Fiona Hyslop: The criteria which must be met for independent training providers to access Skills Development Scotland funding is an operational matter for Skills Development Scotland. This information is not held centrally.

Lifelong Learning

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has plans to review the criteria for training providers accessing ILA 500 funding.

Fiona Hyslop: This is the first year of the higher education (HE) part-time grant which is delivered through ILA 500 funding. We will monitor learner uptake and look at what opportunities there are to widen participation for learning providers who meet the Scottish Quality Assured (SQA) approved learning centre quality standards and who offer SQA approved HE provision.

Maternity Services

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions it is making for additional support to families where there are multiple births.

Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government is committed to providing support to all parents, including those families where there are multiple births.

  A Framework for Maternity Service in Scotland outlines the principles which govern maternity services from pre-conception, through pregnancy, childbirth, postnatal care and into parenthood, so as to ensure that maternity care is organised in a way that is appropriate and accessible to the needs of all women and that is tailored to suit their individual needs.

Migration

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have left (a) Scotland to live elsewhere in the United Kingdom and (b) another constituent part of the UK to live in Scotland in each year since 1999.

John Swinney: The following table shows the estimated number of people moving from Scotland to other parts of the UK each year since 1999.

  

 
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006


 Scotland to England 
 50,765
 49,063
 46,007
 44,596
 42,237
 41,305
 40,790
 39,891


 Scotland to Wales
 1,809
 1,775
 1,705
 1,692
 1,677
 1,677
 1,640
 1,572


 Scotland to N Ireland
 2,310
 2,440
 2,643
 2,111
 2,442
 2,083
 2,265
 2,674



  The following table shows the estimated number of people moving into Scotland from other parts of the UK each year since 1999.

  

 
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006


 England to Scotland
 46,914
 45,122
 52,872
 49,050
 56,110
 53,393
 54,972
 46,059


 Wales to Scotland
 1,748
 1,699
 1,909
 1,727
 1,812
 1,861
 2,010
 1,695


 N Ireland to Scotland
 2,241
 1,972
 1,713
 1,968
 1,863
 1,559
 2,205
 1,844

NHS Hospitals

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why there has been no consideration of a new acute facility serving the north Clyde population, listed as option two on page 21 of Report of the independent external clinical review of anaesthetic services at the Vale of Leven Hospital .

Nicola Sturgeon: The planning and provision of acute services for the population north of the Clyde is a matter for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The board has committed to quickly bring forward proposals for a full range of services at the Vale of Leven Hospital which will take account of Report of the independent external clinical review of anaesthetic services at the Vale of Leven Hospital .

NHS Hospitals

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline all services available at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information about services available at the Vale of Leven Hospital can be found in the Report of the Independent External Clinical Review of Anaesthetic Services at the Vale of Leven Hospital, published on 15 August 2008. The report is available to download at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/924/0064627.pdf.

NHS Hospitals

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many in-patient beds are available at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon: The average available staffed beds in all specialties for the Vale of Leven Hospital in year ending 31 March 2008 was 197.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs and benefits are of pay modernisation contracts for consultants, GPs and NHS staff affected by Agenda for Change.

Nicola Sturgeon: In relation to the costs of the new contracts it should be noted that costings were produced around the additional finance required for these new initiatives when they were introduced, and are detailed below. Now that these new terms and conditions have been agreed and are in place, the focus has moved to securing available benefits for the service and for patients and, as such, on-going work on additional costs has not been undertaken.

  New Consultant Contract: The estimated additional cost to NHSScotland over the two year period 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2005 is £125.6 million.

  New GP contract (known as General Medical Services (GMS) contract): The total expenditure on the GMS contract increased from £503.9 million in 2003-04 to £696 million in 2005-06 which was the first year in which the new contract was fully in place.

  Agenda for Change: The estimated additional costs are £145 million in 2004-05, £215 million in 2005-06, £161 million in 2006-07 and £113 million in 2007-08.

  All of these additional costs are considered to be affordable within the overall funding provided to boards during this period and all boards have managed to contain their expenditure within the funding allocated to them in this period.

  As regards benefits, HDL(2005)28 set out the requirements for NHS boards to develop Pay Modernisation Benefits Realisation planning to demonstrate how they are using the new NHS contractual arrangements to deliver improvements in services for patients and to meet national targets and support local service redesign.

  By modernising terms and conditions all three strands ensure that the NHS is well equipped to recruit and retain the staff it needs, not just in terms of fair remuneration but also through policies that allow staff to maintain the appropriate work life balance.

  Changes in pay, terms and conditions do not in themselves effect improvements in patient care. The new contracts do however contain a series of provisions which can act as catalysts, as drivers for change, giving boards levers and tools that they can use to effect service re-design and improvement.

  The Scottish Government will continue to work with the service to ensure that boards take full advantage of the opportunities which these new terms and conditions packages present to develop benefits for patients.

National Health Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde will have completed the integration of the former Greater Glasgow area with the former Clyde area.

Nicola Sturgeon: Since the formation of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in April 2006, the board has looked closely at how to best integrate services across the whole board area. Full integration was completed in July 2008.

Older People

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged 65 or over have moved from south of the border to settle in Scotland in each year since 1999.

John Swinney: The following table shows the estimated number of people aged 65 or over moving from England and Wales to Scotland each year since 1999.

  

 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006


 2,148
 2,290
 2,139
 2,822
 3,150
 3,142
 2,604
 2,572

People with Dementia

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much will be allocated to the Dementia Research Network for Scotland in (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Dementia Research Network was launched on 29 August 2008 and has been offered the following allocations by financial year:

  

 August 2008-09
 2009-10
 2010-2011
 April-July 2011


£170,455
£340,330
£395,661
£141,935

People with Disabilities

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with COSLA on developing a framework for supported employment.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is currently working in partnership with COSLA in relation to the development of a Supported Employment Framework for Scotland. A task group has been convened that will oversee the development of the framework and it is expected to report its findings in 2009. The group is chaired by Councillor Ronnie McColl, COSLA Spokesperson for Health and Wellbeing and membership includes representation from the Scottish Union for Supported Employment, the Association of Directors of Social Work, the Scottish Local Authority Economic Development Group, Skills Development Scotland, the Department of Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus.

People with Disabilities

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is currently available to assist disabled people in finding employment.

Fiona Hyslop: Employment and job search are matters reserved to Westminster. The responsibility for delivering services to assist disabled people into employment lies with the Department for Work and Pensions. Through Jobcentre Plus it offers a range of employment support services for disabled people including Pathways to Work, Disability Employment Advisers, Access to Work and New Deal for Disabled People.

People with Disabilities

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to helping disabled people find employment in each of the last five years.

Fiona Hyslop: Allocation of funding to help disabled people find employment is a matter reserved to Westminster. Further investment in disability employment services is currently commissioned at a local level in Scotland and is a responsibility for local authorities.

People with Disabilities

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to take to support more disabled people into employment.

Fiona Hyslop: Officials are working on a number of approaches to support disabled people into employment. A Supported Employment Framework is currently being developed by the Scottish Government and COSLA as a result of recommendations from the Scottish Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee.

  Further support is also provided to local employability partnerships through a Workforce Plus Learning Disability Co-ordinator and the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health.

Procurement

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what savings were achieved by the eProcurement Scotland service best procurement implementation programme in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2007-08.

John Swinney: The best procurement implementation (BPI) programme was initiated by NHS National Service Scotland to identify and deliver savings through better procurement and improved operational processes. eProcurement Scotland (ePS) was one of seven workstreams in that programme. The savings from BPI reported to the health department were overall programme savings figures from all activities and not solely from ePS

  The reported figures for delivered savings are:

  2003-06 - £34.6 million

  2006-07 - £26.1 million

  2007-08 - £23 million.

Public Inquiries

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-15494 by Kenny MacAskill on 25 August 2008, what public inquiries have been initiated by Scottish Ministers since the Inquiries Act 2005 was passed.

Kenny MacAskill: Since the Inquiries Act 2005 was passed, an inquiry was set up in March 2008 to look into the fingerprints in the Shirley McKie case, under the chairmanship of Lord Justice Campbell. Another inquiry was announced in April this year which will consider cases where patients have contracted hepatitis C, under the chairmanship of Lady Cosgrove.

  Scottish Ministers have also jointly set up an inquiry in conjunction with the Department of Work and Pensions to investigate the explosion at the ICL Stockline factory under the chairmanship of the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Gill.

Public Inquiries

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-15494 by Kenny MacAskill on 25 August 2008, whether ministers routinely seek the approval of the Parliament when determining the remit and chairing of a public inquiry.

Kenny MacAskill: There is no requirement under the Inquiries Act 2005 for a minister to seek the approval of the Parliament when determining the remit and chairing of a public inquiry.

  Under section 6 of the act, however, a minister who proposes to cause an inquiry to be held, or who has already done so, must as soon as is reasonably practicable make an oral or written statement to that effect to the relevant Parliament

  The statement must state:

  (a) who is to be, or has been, appointed as chairman of the inquiry;

  (b) whether the Minister has appointed, or proposes to appoint, any other members to the inquiry panel, and if so how many;

  (c) what are to be, or are, the inquiry’s terms of reference.

Scottish Legal Complaints Commission

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to ensure that the levy paid by the legal profession to fund the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission represents value for money and what recourse is available to the profession should complaints arise about the use of these funds.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission is responsible for setting the levy. Therefore, any questions about this should be directed to the Commission.

Terrorism Act 2000

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many people were stopped under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in (a) Glasgow, (b) Prestwick and (c) Edinburgh airports in 2007, also broken down by ethnicity.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Terrorism Act 2000

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many people have been stopped under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in (a) Glasgow, (b) Prestwick and (c) Edinburgh airports in 2008, also broken down by ethnicity.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.